Growth of Business English and the Need to Teach Memo-Writing Skills to Indian Tertiary-Level Learners

• Main Authors: Aruna Arputhamalar, S. Padmasani Kannan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lasting Impressions Press 2015-05-01
• Series: International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies
• Subjects: business writing; corporate world; Indian tertiary learners; memo writing; globalization
• Online Access: http://eltsjournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/8-3-2-151.pdf

English has become an inevitable means of communication. Due to globalization and rapid growth in business communication, the need to learn the English language has also gained momentum. Employers are looking for employees who are skilled in the language skills. In India, English has become an important means of communication and learning in the education and professional setup. Though English is being taught in schools and colleges, Indian students miserably fail to produce a good quality lengthy composition. In this respect, this paper aims to focus on the need to teach memo-writing skills to tertiary students. To this end, a group of second year Indian BCA students was taken as samples for the study. The students were given a pre-test on memo writing. They lacked the essential skills in writing a memo. In order to improve their memo writing skills the students had to undergo four tasks. At the end of the tasks, they were able to write a good memo. The corporate world demands accurate business writings and our students have to be trained to meet the demands of the business world. This paper studies the growth of business English, the components of effective business writing and the need to teach business writing to tertiary students, which will enable them to be successful in the business world.